Aerial Maps
Imagine how much more powerful and easy it is to plan your routes when fading between Topo maps and Satellite imagery and, to get the best from any route planning or analysis, you really do need both! It's very easy to do this in RouteBuddy, just mark out your intended route (or imported trail) over your Ordnance Survey digital maps or USGS digital maps, click the Aerial button on the Toolbar and your route is displayed over the ground. Now you can see where the best places are to camp, enjoy distant views, get shelter and travel safely!
If you are planning a scenic journey with our Road maps, then using the satellite image overlay will be an absolute boon to you when planning that special trip. Now you can see where to get the best views, where to drive, where to park, and where to avoid. Bing satellite imagery in RouteBuddy gives you the clear advantage over all other road map planning software.
With Bing's powerful Aerial maps in RouteBuddy you can zoom in to street level, or out to a whole-world view; Pan, Zoom or Layer and get immediate response over a fast broadband connection. The Satellite-imagery layers beautifully over raster Topo maps or vector Road maps; To know how to read and use a map is a skill, to be able to see where your planned route lies, and takes you, gives you that extra edge over any other map software.
Please note: This feature is only available in RouteBuddy version 3 upwards.
Architecture
Here at RouteBuddy we're pleased to have worked with Bing's Map Developer community; Not only do Bing Aerial Maps (formerly Microsoft Virtual Earth) have so much to offer an integrated desktop map application, especially when combined with Topo maps using layer technology, but several other advantages will delivered to our users as we iterate and implement more features for the utilisation of this great satellite imagery!
Rather than using a basic web-view of satellite imagery, as used by other apps, we opted for a fresh, and flexible solution, in utilising the raw aerial imagery tiles from Microsoft's Bing Maps. It cannot be stressed enough how powerful this combination, of desktop software and Bing's technology, truly is. Considerably more detailed work to implement, but now RouteBuddy users will benefit from powerful mapping features that just aren't available elsewhere.
New tiles smoothly fade up into view, implementation of incremental zoom, scaling from one tile size to the next, and panning, all transitions in a fluid manner. Features like these are in great demand for modern map software users, and there will be more as RouteBuddy implement new features and builds to take full advantage of Bing's Map technology.
Never before have Topo or Road digital map users been able to take advantage of layered Aerial Map technology on their Mac or PC in this way; Your future map planning or analysis with RouteBuddy data-layering brings to light valuable and detailed feedback, right before your eyes.
RouteBuddy 3.0, with Bing Aerial Maps, is not a Google Earth replacement but, with the unique advantage of layering over the leading brands of topo or road maps, it does become a valid alternative for all users, particularly those with road or outdoor interests.
Having built Bing Aerial Maps into RouteBuddy 3.0 we can see many advantages for commercial users, who wish to licence Bing Maps for use via RouteBuddy software, on Mac OS X or in Windows. Please contact us here: b2b@routebuddy.com or Bing Maps Licensing with any enquiry.
Features
RouteBuddy combines Bing's Aerial Maps with our animation technology and this provides smooth transitions when using all types of data in RouteBuddy software, that's with Aerial Maps, Topo Maps, Road Maps, and GeoData (such as Waypoints, Routes and Tracks).
Layer technology gives RouteBuddy users greater power and flexibility than has been offered in any other map software to date, being able to switch between maps and overlay
satellite images with a simple click, and bringing bringing to life the visual landscape on the ground below.
WGS84 - By using the worldwide standard coordinate frame for our map software RouteBuddy is unique in being able to layer aerial imagery directly over road or topo maps from any supplier. Being able to see all of the maps you use, anywhere in the world, and layer aerial maps over them delivers a unique planning and analysis tool, for all your needs.
System Requirements
Mac
Software: Mac OS X 10.5 or higher
Hardware: PPC or Intel Mac
Windows
Software: Windows XP SP3 or higher
Hardware: Intel